This article offers information about the protect product options for cars, to help you choose the option that gives you the best chance of maintaining your vehicle’s beauty and while boosting its “wow” factor.

Best Protection for Car Paint

Waxes

Waxes are made from Brazilian carnauba, which often leaves a warm glow on the vehicle’s surface, or a wet look on darker or metallic paint. Typically, the wax is applied to the surface and left on for a period before it’s buffed off. A protective coating remains, which lasts between four to eight weeks.

There are different grades of the carnauba wax – the highest grade is yellow in color and provides the best protective properties. For the best results, have an installer apply the protective wax rather than doing it yourself.

Protective wax only provides a light “sacrificial” layer on the surface of your car that will protect it from mild wear and tear and light scratches. Although easy to use, there are drawbacks of using wax as your only protection – it must be reapplied often and it only offers minimal protection compared to the other new car paint protection products.

Sealant

Sealants are made from synthetic polymers that are easy to apply over your car’s paint. Unlike waxes, most sealants are sprayed and left on the surface of your car rather than being buffed off. Multiple layers of sealant can be built up on the surface, offering better protection than wax alone.

The simple application is a plus and it is relatively inexpensive to apply yourself, but the best results may be achieved by going to a professional rather doing it yourself. To strengthen a sealant’s protection, multiple coatings can be applied and it can be layered over other protective methods, such as wax and clear film.

Although the multi-layered protection is stronger than wax protection – is it the best protective coating for cars? Read on for more options.

Coatings

There are a variety of coatings that protect the car by leaving a hard-candy coating over your paint. Coatings are usually made from ceramics, are semi-permanent and last up to five years and protect your car from heavier wear and tear than waxes and sealants alone.

Coatings stand up to environmental contaminants, bird droppings, chemical deterioration and scratches caused by everyday driving. Some coatings come with a warranty that is registered with the coating’s manufacturer, guaranteeing outstanding protection for the life of the warranty.

Coating costs vary by manufacturer and installer, ranging from several hundred dollars to thousands.

While offering outstanding protection, the cost of coating could be higher than the price of the materials and labor to install it. Because coating bonds with the surface of the car’s paint, it’s recommended to correct any defects in paint, surface dings or scratches because once the coating is applied, it is nearly permanent.

Clear Film

Initially used by the military to protect airplanes and vehicles from surface scrapes, chips and environmental wear and tear, clear film became available to consumers first in the high-performance vehicle market.

The protective properties vary widely, depending on the manufacturer, some offering temporary protection against road abrasion to long-term protective qualities with warranties that cover five to seven years of protection.

Recent developments in the clear film market include “self-healing” properties, which allows the appearance of light scratches to be reversed with exposure to heat, or over time to a near scratch-free look.

As with coatings, before applying clear film, it’s important to correct all paint flaws and surface imperfections to ensure a lasting, beautiful vehicle surface.

In addition to protecting the car’s surface, clear film’s protective properties can reduce body maintenance and provide the most durability, making clear film the best protective coatings for cars, the cost running into the thousands of dollars for a full vehicle wrap.

Blending Protective Methods

Although it’s worth the money to provide the best overall protection for your luxury vehicle, you may want to consider a less expensive option. Ask your car protection pro for suggestions on how to get the most out of your auto protection at a lower cost.

Your car pro may suggest applying clear film to the vehicle surface that are most at risk for damage, including the front fender, hood, inside of door handles and side skirts, while using less expensive protective measures on the rest of the car surface to save on costs.

Whichever new car paint protection products you choose, it’s important to be informed of each option and to ask for advice from a trusted auto protective professional. Your auto’s beauty contributes to its overall value. Help protect it, so you can feel the pride of ownership every time you slip behind the wheel.

If you’d like to discuss your options, including how to maximize your paint protection and value of your vehicle, contact Auto Super Shield or call 506-367-0101.

When you select a vehicle, it becomes an extension of you. You choose one that fits your life expectations, including the performance standards, beauty and comfort that you and your family deserve.

When it comes to window tints, 3M Crystalline Window Tint is considered one of the top window films on the market today. Even though it comes with the highest performance features, it’s also more expensive.

This article will look at how the top window tints stack up, their protective qualities, cost and ultimately answer the question, “Is 3M crystalline costs worth it?”

The Benefit of Window Tint

Although most vehicles come with window tinting from the manufacturer, the tint is painted on and provides minimal protection. Adding a protective film can increase your vehicle’s comfort during summer months while protecting your car’s interior.

1. Window Tint Blocks UV Rays

One of the biggest benefits of window tinting is that they block a high percentage of UV rays. This can be especially important in sunny climates, such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and Hawaii. You and your family can remain safe from harmful rays, which could reduce the risk of skin cancer. It also helps maintain the vehicle’s interior, saving the dashboard and upholstery from cracks and discoloration.

2. Window Tint Helps Cool Down the Car’s Interior

Tinting can also reduce the heat in the vehicle significantly, reducing the burden on your vehicle’s air conditioner on the hottest days. If you spend a significant amount of time in your vehicle for your job, tinting can keep you more comfortable during the summer months by helping maintain a cool interior.

3. Window Tint Helps Keep You Safe and Ensures Privacy

The safety of your vehicle is also increased by installing tinting. It can reinforce your window and the risk of shattering glass during an accident.

Heavy tints can also provide privacy, but be careful the heavy coloration doesn’t impair your visibility. Increasingly, tints that don’t change the color of the windows are available and have similar protective properties of darker tints.

3M Crystalline Window Tint Specs

A multi-layer optical film 3M Crystalline combines 200 layers in its film, but is thinner than a Post-It Note, which offers a higher heat rejection than darker film. Its lightest shade blocks a high-level of infrared light and 34 percent of heat. If you’d like to keep your vehicle’s look the same while keeping the interior cool, the 3M Crystalline is a great tint film. Its attributes include:

Blocks 99.9 % UV Rays

Reduces heat – up to 97% infrared light rejection

Total solar energy rejected: up to 60

SPF of 1,000+

Reduces glare

No metal and no radio signal interference

Enhances visibility at night

Film doesn’t discolor

Lifetime warranty

Llumar Tint Specs

A good ceramic tint, Llumar provides superior heat and UV protection as metallic without the electronic signal-compromising quality of metal tints. Although offering nearly as high of a percentage of UV protection, Llumar does not provide statistics on the level of heat rejection. Some of the qualities that Llumar attributes to its ceramic film are:

Blocks 99%+UV protection

Superior heat protection

Clear and easy connectivity

Helps reduce interior fading

Help increase privacy

Lifetime warranty

Solar Gard Ultra Performance Plus Specs

Solar Gard takes advantage of nano-ceramics technologies to offer a cooler and more comfortable interior, similar to the 3M Crystalline and Llumar high-performance series. They also offer a clearer option, so you can have a cooler interior without altering the look of your auto’s windows. However, they have a limited lifetime warranty. Some benefits include:

Blocks 99%+ UV protection

Blocks infrared light, reducing heat up to 39-degrees F

Total solar energy rejected: 43

Guarantees no color fading

Limited lifetime guarantee

3M Crystalline Window Tint Costs

Crystalline is the highest quality 3M tint, a high-technology film that is produced using multilayer nanotechnology, the same process used to improve the brightness in flat panel LCD televisions. The average 3M Crystalline tint cost is:

2-door car or truck (3 windows): $500

4-door car or truck (5 windows): $560

SUV (7 windows): $640

Typical Window Tint Costs

High-performance window tints can range widely in price to tint a standard passenger car, usually between $100 to $600 depending upon the make, model and type of vehicle. Therefore, a consumer can shop for price or luxury performance. To tint an SUV or wagon, the cost is estimated to range from $200 to $800.

Conclusion: 3M Crystalline Edges Past the Competition

The features of the 3M Crystalline beats the other two high-performance competitors, by providing higher UV protection and infrared light blocking along with a full lifetime guarantee in comparison to Solar Gard’s limited lifetime guarantee.

So, is 3M Crystalline worth it?

We cannot compare costs because the competitors’ prices are not published on the internet. However, it’s not unreasonable to believe that the cost of premium brands would fall into the higher range of typical tint costs, which makes 3M’s slightly higher performance with a lifetime warranty worth the cost.

If your vehicle is a product of your lifestyle, then your car is more than just a ride or an investment, it’s an extension of you. It tells the world about you – how confident you are, your status and overall approach to life. In the exclusive South Florida social scene, an exotic, high-performance, classic vintage or high-end luxury car can add to the landscape, and you may feel exhilarated operating a distinctive vehicle along the open roads.

If you’d like to try operating an even more exotic car, you don’t have to purchase an expensive car and deal with the hassles of maintenance to operate one. You can join a luxury car club in south Florida to rent and drive the vehicle of your dreams. Here are some luxury car clubs that will help you enjoy the premium auto lifestyle in South Florida even more:

South Florida Luxury Car Clubs

1. Redline Society – High-end Rentals

If you’ve always wanted to drive ultra-luxury cars that are among the most expensive ever made, explore the membership options at Redline Society. With four annual car-sharing packages, Redline gives you access to most of the Miami car club’s luxury collection so you can drive your dream auto. For instance, the 91-Octane level offers 84 days of access to the luxury car collection per calendar year. Not enough drive time? How about 276 days and fractional ownership of the luxury car of your choice? Be sure to check out Redline’s 91 Octane Car Sharing Package.

The luxury car club, which is part of Xotic Dream Cars, also offers VIP packages, weekly rentals and concierge services.

2. The MPH Club

This Miami car club offers a customized membership, which includes access to the exotic cars you desire, your choice of rental days per calendar year, and more.

The club also has established membership levels that range from 100 -200 days of luxury car rentals per calendar year, chauffeur services, delivery and pick-up of your rental among other concierge-style services. The MPH Club’s membership cost per year for its regular membership ranges from $50,000 to $150,000, depending upon the level of membership.

3. Gotham Dream Cars

If you want access to “ultra-exotic” and luxury autos from exclusive manufacturers, such as Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Ferrari to experience driving a high-performance vehicle the way it was meant to be driven, Gotham Dream Cars may be the luxury car club for you.

The club also offers the Dream Car Sprint, allowing you to operate a high-performance vehicle on an auto-cross course with no speed limits. Imagine, operating a vehicle designed to be driven at 8,000-rpm without the confines of traffic.

After a short safety course and vehicle overview, you can let loose—starting at just $249.

4. Lou La Vie

A fixture on the exclusive Miami social scene, Lou La Vie offers preferential access to an extensive collection of exotic cars without the hassle of ownership. The Miami car club offers three levels of personal membership, from silver to platinum and prices that range from $20,000 to $50,000 in annual membership fees.

Members also receive invitations to private events and receive VIP services as part of the Lou La Vie’s Miami car club membership.

5. Millionaire’s Concierge

One of the best concierge services in south Florida, Millionaire’s Concierge offers a wide variety of exotic vehicles to rent, but members can also request a specialty car that is not currently in the luxury car club’s inventory. The company also offers access to VIP events, luxury accommodations and 24/7 roadside assistance.

High Performance Driving Events and Education

Although not usually associated with luxury events, a south Florida meetup club is offering high-speed auto events throughout Florida and Georgia. The High Performance Driving Events meetup group offers access to world-famous tracks, like the Sebring Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Daytona and even more race tracks, so you can put your performance vehicle on the track.

This meetup has an exciting calendar that features course track events, club racing, top-speed runs and autocross events.

You deserve to own and operate a car that fits your lifestyle and tastes. Whether you decide to join a luxury car club or not, your everyday vehicle still deserves love and attention to maintain its value and high functionality.

The Fast and the Furious franchise was built on top of some of the coolest cars in the world. From iconic American muscle dragsters to ultra-premium exotic sports cars, The Fast and the Furious movies put a lot of different vehicles on display for all kinds of automotive enthusiasts. In honor of the release of the latest installment in the franchise, The Fate of the Furious, we decided to look back at some of our favorite cars in the series.

What do you think of our list? What are some of your favorite cars in the F&F franchise? Let us know in the comments section!

1970 Dodge Charger

Dominic Toretto’s matte gray 1970 Dodge Charger R/T is one of the most iconic vehicles of the flagship film that helped launch an international Blockbuster series. In 2001, when the first The Fast and the Furious hit theaters, modified import cars were all the rage, but the car everyone remembered from the film was the 1970 Charger that even Vin Diesel’s character was scared to drive.

1970 Plymouth Barracuda

Certainly not the most agile or fastest car ever to appear in the franchise, the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda that we saw at the end of Fast and Furious 6 is near the top of its class when it comes to the parade of bad-ass muscle cars that have appeared in the series so far. The ‘Cuda’s attitude jumps off the screen, and the twin four-barrel carbs under the hood produced a symphony worthy of being played over a movie theater surround sound system.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko seen in 2 Fast 2 Furious was a replica—after all, no one in their right mind would subject such a rare and beautiful car to the automotive stunts attempted in the film. Chevy Camaros prepared by Yenko Chevrolet are some of the most sought-after collector muscle cars in the world. A total of 201 Yenko Super Camaros was produced in 1969.

1999 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R

If you’ve seen the films, you understand Brian’s love affair with the Nissan Skyline. Various models appear throughout the franchise, but none as iconic or unforgettable at the 1999 R34 Skyline driven by Paul Walker in Fast and Furious 4. Fun fact: nine Skylines were used for the film, but only one was an actual 1999 R34 Skyline GT-R—the others were plastic bodies fitted on the chassis of VW Beetles.

1995 Toyota Supra

If Dom’s 1970 Charger stole the show in The Fast and the Furious, it’s only because it surpassed the equally amazing 1995 Toyota Supra. On its own the Supra is a fine car, but what made this one special was the mad science that took place underneath the hood. Performance mods include a 2JZ 3.1 engine swap, custom stainless steel headers, NOS, boost controllers, and a stage III racing clutch.

2007 Koenigsegg CCXR

Fast Five is a showcase of the world’s sexiest and most expensive cars, including the Koenigsegg CCXR. Only six such vehicles were made, and each had an asking price of $2 million. Although the CCXR in the film isn’t driven at speed in the film, it looks faster than just about anything that’s appeared in the series since. If you want to get close to a 1,000-horsepower supercar that runs on bio-ethanol fuel and has been called one of the most beautiful vehicles of all time, the end of Fast Five might be your only chance.

The Fast and the Furious franchise is a love letter to amazing cars. Every vehicle that’s been featured in the series over the last 20 years has a special place among the greatest cars of all time. We told you our list wasn’t exhaustive, and we’re sure you have a favorite or two that wasn’t mentioned here. Drop us a line or comment below and tell us your favorite car from the series.

And of course, if you drive something worthy of appearing in the next F&F film, stop by Auto Super Shield in Boca Raton, FL to learn how we can make it pop with stunning premium window tint or a custom-printed vinyl car wrap. We also specialize in paint protection film, which can protect your vehicle’s Hollywood paint job from scratches, swirl marks, fading, and corrosion.

Contact us online or call 561-367-0101 to learn more about our products and services.

XPEL vs. 3M Paint Protection Films: What’s the Difference?

You love your car. You love looking at it, almost as much as you love driving it. But no matter how often you wash and wax your ride, things like gravel dings, chipped paint and bug splatter can cause permanent damage to your vehicle’s paint. If only there was some sort of “force field” around your car that protected the paint.

Enter XPEL and 3M paint protection films (sometimes known as “clear bra” or “car bra” films). As trusted leaders in the industry, both manufacturers offer peace of mind that your car’s paint will be preserved for many years to come. And with today’s technology, these thin, protective films can be applied to new and used vehicles without changing their appearance—unless of

course you want to add a matte or glossy finish, in which case both XPEL and 3M paint protection films will oblige.

So, which film should you buy? That depends on your needs. XPEL and 3M offer similar product lines, but there are differences between each brand’s top films that can help you decide. Read on to learn more about these films and the differences between them.

XPEL Paint Protection Films

XPEL excels at finding innovative ways to shield your car’s paint using only the highest quality film. The entire XPEL line of films is hand drawn, measured, and tested manually. And you can take comfort knowing XPEL products are only installed by highly qualified experts.

XPEL offers four paint protection film lines for your consideration:

XPEL ULTIMATE Paint Protection Film – The special clear coat on this virtually invisible urethane film prevents discoloration due to contamination and UV radiation. The super-slick surface also allows for bug residue and other unsightly blemishes to wipe away with ease. What’s more, the XPEL ULTIMATE boasts a self-healing feature that makes light swirl marks, scratches and stains practically disappear.

XPEL STEALTH Satin Paint Protection Film – It’s hard to keep matte finishes in showroom condition, so you owe it to your car to preserve its satin paint job. XPEL STEALTH has the same self-healing and protective features as ULTIMATE, but it’s designed to match the sheen of most factory matte paints. And if you’re looking for a reversible, low-cost way to transform your car’s appearance, XPEL STEALTH can transform your car’s glossy paint into a sleek satin finish.

XPEL XTREME Paint Protection Film – Designed for minimal visual impact, XTREME is the clearest, thinnest paint protection film XPEL offers. It delivers an industry-leading level of optical clarity — ideal for showing off your car’s curves and custom paint job. XTREME is also backed by one of the best warranties in the business. If the film fails (yellows, cracks, peels, or delaminates) within seven years of professional installation, XPEL will replace it and pay for the cost to remove the old film and put on the new one.

XPEL ARMOR Paint Protection Film When the going gets tough, the tough get XPEL ARMOR paint protection film. XPEL’s thickest and strongest film, ARMOR looks and performs like spray-on bedliner and is designed to resist abrasions and punctures from even the most rugged use. ARMOR is ideal for off-road vehicles and heavy-duty commercial and industrial vehicles.

3M Paint Protection Films

3M is one of the oldest players in the PPF game—because they were the first. 3M filed the first patent for paint protection film, and since then they’ve earned a reputation as one of the best in the industry. 3M paint protection films are the choice of new car manufacturers all over the world, as well as NASCAR.

3M offers fewer PPF choices than XPEL, but they are just as good (or better, depending on who you ask). Here’s a closer look at 3M’s PPF line:

3M VentureShield Paint Protection Film – 3M’s most cost-effective film still features the tough properties that protect your vehicle’s paint from daily wear and tear. And despite being one of the most cost-effective paint protection films on the market, VentureShield maintains its clarity, durability, and superior performance over a wide range of environmental conditions. In fact, VentureShield is guaranteed not to crack with UV or salt spray exposure.

3M Scotchgard Pro Paint Protection Film – The next step up in quality and performance, 3M’s Scotchgard Pro line offers unrivaled scratch and stain resistance with amazing clarity. In fact, Scotchgard Pro PPF is one of the clearest paint protection films in the industry. The film also features self-healing technology that keeps the film (and your car, more importantly) looking new by allowing minor scratches to disappear by themselves. The Pro Series was also designed with the professional installer in mind, which means a quality finished product for you, the consumer.

Honestly, you won’t go wrong with either brand. Both have a great reputation for producing high-quality paint protection films that last. Just ensure you leave the job to an expert installer who’s professionally trained by XPEL and/or 3M. You’ll find both at Auto Super Shield, Southern Florida’s premier paint protection film dealer/installer.

If you have questions or would like a PPF quote, contact us online or call 561-367-0101.